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January 2010

January 02, 2010

Oceans absorb some 25 percent of annual CO2 emissions and hold half of the earth's carbon stocks in plankton, mangroves, salt marshes and other marine life. Sea-grass meadows and underwater kelp forests store a big part of the ocean carbon stock. An op-ed in the New York Times argues that, having taken the first step toward protecting forests and natural landscapes at Copenhagen, the next logical step is to preserve critical coastal carbon sinks through a compensation mechanism similar to the Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation program.

As I have noted in my last few posts, there are three huge natural mechanisms for carbon absorption and sequestration that are available immediately and not dependent on any new technology: